Spiny tree rat
Mesomys hispidus (Desmarest, 1817)
Status not recordedrodents
The spiny tree rat (Mesomys hispidus) is a species in the family Echimyidae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh about 175 g.
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Quick facts about the spiny tree rat
- Weight
- 175 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 0.97
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)
- Lifestyle
- Arboreal
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the spiny tree rat live?
Not recorded
Is the spiny tree rat endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the spiny tree rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyEchimyidae
- genusMesomys
- SpeciesMesomys hispidus (Desmarest, 1817)
Synonyms Echimys hispidus, Mesomys ecaudatus, Mesomys ferrugineus
Other names and names in other languages (11)
- Ferreira s spiny tree-ratEnglish
- Ferreira's spiny tree ratEnglish
- Ferreira's spiny tree-ratEnglish
- koro krátkouchýCzech
- Ratón Puyoso PequeñoSpanish
- puupiikkirottaFinnish
- Rat arboricole épineuxFrench
- アラゲモリトゲネズミJapanese
- jeżokolczak kosmatyPolish
- Rato-de-espinhoPortuguese
- Rato-espinhoso-arborícolaPortuguese
Relatives of the spiny tree rat
Other species in the same genus Mesomys.
Para spiny tree rat
Mesomys stimulax
Long-haired spiny tree-rat
Mesomys leniceps
Hidden spiny tree rat
Mesomys occultus
CompareSpiny tree rat vs Para spiny tree ratSpiny tree rat vs Long-haired spiny tree-ratSpiny tree rat vs Hidden spiny tree rat
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the spiny tree rat?
An adult spiny tree rat weighs 175 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the spiny tree rat?
The spiny tree rat (Mesomys hispidus) belongs to the family Echimyidae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spiny tree rat (Mesomys hispidus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spiny-tree-rat
“Spiny tree rat (Mesomys hispidus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spiny-tree-rat.
@misc{spiny_tree_rat_2026,
title = {Spiny tree rat (Mesomys hispidus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spiny-tree-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}